There are many koi colors and these colors are the basis of what variety they belong.
Besides color, color patterns and scaling also helps in distinguishing koi varieties.
For instance, a white koi with red or orange markings on the back is called the kohaku.
It is the most common koi variety that you will find.
It belongs to the gosanke category along with taisho sanshoku and showa sanshoku.
The word kohaku means "red and white" in Japanese.
There are also sub varieties of the kohaku; hi and the straight hi.
When talking about the kohaku hi, it is a white koi with red markings on its body, but the red markings are wide.
If there is a red marking with single pattern, or the red color is majority as compared to the white color, it is often called as the straight hi.
The taisho sanshoku may look like the kohaku variety, only that it has small black markings or spots on its body.
The showa sanshoku is a black koi with red and white markings on its body.
Aside from kohaku, there are many other koi fish varieties that novice hobbyists can choose from.
These varieties come in many different koi colors such as gold, yellow, platinum, black, orange, blue, and even dark green.
The bekko variety for example is a red, yellow, or white koi with black markings on its body.
Often, the bekko variety is confused with the utsurimono variety as they have similarities in appearance.
The ogon variety is also one of the most popular varieties.
This variety has only one single or solid color.
In order to be considered as an ogon variety, it should have metallic scale effects and one uniform color all over its body.
Ogon koi colors include white, gold, orange, and platinum.
Ogon variety is often being used in crossbreeding as their metallic scale effect is really what made them very popular.
This variety would look like having pieces of diamonds being attached on its body when watched from a bird's eye view.
And, because of the constant crossbreeding, many koi colors were developed.
Meaning, more varieties are being developed too.
Varieties such as the butterfly and the ghost are the latest amongst the newly developed varieties.
But these varieties are bound with many controversies as many koi enthusiasts and breeders do not consider these varieties as pure koi fish.